Midnight Marmot
River City Brewing Company

 

an exceptional example of the style and one of those great beers that just sort of makes everything right in the world. its smooth and rich and expertly made, but its also kind of unique in that its lower alcohol for what it is, full of deep coffee notes, and just velvet on the palate. its frothy feeling and full flavored, with some oats in the mash very likely and a huge body on it, lots of roast and earthy depth, and almost no sweetness yet great balance, a rare feat indeed. i get a lot of tobacco, coffee, anise, campfire, and dark chocolate from this in nose and taste, and thats not all, there is enormous smoothness here, a satisfying body but a fast finish, so rare in any beer, but so perfect for one like this. bitterness is moderate from the dark grain, cocoa is everywhere, and some yeast element still exists. this is great beer, no frills or adjuncts, and a beer that seems to immediately stand the test of time, even though almost none has elapsed, pretty special. no barrel, no this and that, just great stout. a beer to savor, appreciate, and be stoked about. they nailed it.

edit: just got into a bottle of this that has been in my cellar at least a couple years, sad to see it looks like these guys have closed in that time, a shame, good beers and cool vibe in my experience, bummer. anyway, this has held up well, even for something not traditionally as cellar worthy, no barrel and a modest alcohol content, just 8.4% abv listed on the side of my bottle, and i cant see a date, but its some years old anyway. real dark black, viscous for its strength, thick in the glass with a lot of shine and some decent carbonation activity. aroma is high roast, even more bitter than i remember with definite espresso character. its rich feeling but not really in flavor, as its on the dry side, tons of body in tact here and no oxidation at all to me, bitter baking chocolate, earthy grains, maybe faint molasses and licorice, warms up well, never gets boozy which is a cool feature of it being less strong, but it doesnt feel weak or thin at all, its luxurious, regal even, super well made. sorry they didnt make it, certainly not related to quality if this cellared gem is any indication, enjoyed winter 2025 and more or less missed forever i am afraid.

Very dark appearance with tan head that dedicates quickly. Aroma is a stout with orange hint. Taste is very much orange dominated without any hint of alcohol.

32oz “grunt” purchased at the River City tasting room in Spokane for approximately $7.

Poured an oily black color, with a big, creamy head that was somewhere between beige and tan. Lots of lace.

Roasty malts were the dominant scent, with notes of coffee and soy sauce. Definitely a bitter example of the style.

More sweet in the taste than in the aroma. There's a bitter chocolatey taste that is riding tandem to the bitter notes noted in the aroma, and lends a balance to things that isn't so obvious from get-go. Hoppy dry note at the end, which is understandable with a beer that has 88 IBUs.

Moderately heavy body to this, yet the mouthfeel is a little thin for the style (excepting their IPAs, this is almost a hallmark of River City - it's like how speedometers are the weakpoint of BMWs: Odd that it's nearly always there, but has become almost a trademark).

A pretty tasty, serviceable Imperial Stout. Is it the best I've had? Well, no. Is it the greatest local example of the style? I'd rank it number two, behind another local beer that is awesome, so I'm not slagging it at all. Is it still pretty damn good? You betcha. There's lots of places I could be living where this would be an amazing beer to be able to pick up from a brewery that is about a ten minute walk from my home.